Pipeline plan threatens county's water quality

As beautiful and pristine as the bucolic countryside of Chester County appears on the horizon, there is a war waging beneath the ground that is seriously threatening the quality of health and life of residents here and downstream. The water quality in many streams and rivers in Chester County is “impaired,” as we speak. In 2010, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) listed almost 600 miles of the over 2,400 miles of streams in Chester County as impaired, meaning they did not meet regulatory established water quality standards. Streams may be impaired due to a variety of causes, such as agriculture, nutrients, urban runoff/storm sewers, and siltation. In Chester County, 25 percent of its stream miles are impaired. The rivers and streams already show signs of continued damage, even at current levels of impact.

Chester County now faces another serious threat to its water quality.

The Williams Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. (Transco) wants to replace an old 2,200-foot section of natural gas pipeline with a larger diameter pipe across the Brandywine Creek and two crossings on Ludwig’s Run, a tributary, to transport natural gas from upstate, and to improve their ability to monitor the pipe’s safety. This part of East Brandywine and East Caln is where the Downingtown Municipal Water Authority pipes water from the Brandywine Creek to supply us with clean drinking and bathing water.

There are two ways to do the job; the right way that protects the water quality (called horizontal drilling) and the wrong way (the “open trench cut”) that could seriously jeopardize our water quality.

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Horizontal drilling is more environmentally sensitive, and consists of drilling a hole straight down on the west bank of the creek, tunneling well under the stream bed, coming straight up on the east bank with a U- shaped pipe, which causes little to no disturbance of the the creekbed.

The wrong way, open trench cut, basically slashes across the stream, disrupting the natural ecology of the stream and its bed, and increases the opportunity for serious soil erosion into our water supply from vegetation removal by disturbance to the stream banks. Open trench cut is the cheaper way and once they’re done, they’ll leave landowners and municipalities to deal with, and pay for, any problems left in their wake.

Why Now? DEP is directed by the Corbett administration which is neglecting environmental and health priorities while showing strong allegiance to the gas, oil and coal industries. When informed with the facts and options, our community has every right to expect and demand that DEP do its job of protecting the environment and deny the open trench cut method.

Due to persistent pressure from advocates closely monitoring this process, DEP has scheduled a public meeting and hearing for Tuesday, August 14, at 5 p.m. at the Sykes Student Union Building on the West Chester University campus at 110 W. Rosedale Ave. Transco is asking to replace the existing section of 30-inch pipe that lies beneath Brandywine Creek and portions of Ludwig’s Run with a 42-inch pipe through the use of an open trench cut. The DEP will receive public comments at this time.

About 40 percent of Americans draw their water from aquifers. The rest drink from rivers, lakes, and streams. Ecologically speaking, everyone drinks from groundwater, aquifers being the source of rivers. As biologist and environmentalist Rachel Carson pointed out, contamination of ground water is contamination of water everywhere. And because the human body is 65 percent water by weight, contamination of water everywhere is therefore contamination of people everywhere.

Not only is the region’s safe drinking water and the millions of dollars already spent to protect our water quality at stake, Downingtown’s Victory Brewery relies totally on the East Brandywine Creek for its source water and the quality of its beer. If the pipeline crossing is not done right, all of this could allow a precedent for substandard environmental protection of critical areas now and going forward. This part of the solution calls to action that water utilities and the water consuming public become vigilant about the source protection of watersheds and aquifers. We all live downstream, and we are all affected by the actions of those upstream.

Sen. Andy Dinniman described the issue as “the Second Battle of the Brandywine.” If you care about your drinking water, and the water quality in this region and downstream, come to the public comment session tonight and demand that Transco do the right thing.